In a typical clinical setting, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy treatments are administered to the majority (>90%) of cancer patients. Therefore, along with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy represent two of the three main modalities employed for cancer treatment. However, the therapeutic outcomes are still far from ideal for many types of tumors. The main problem associated with radiotherapy is the recurrence of tumors and/or the development of metastases at distant locations. For chemotherapy, the problem is the development of resistance. In both cases, new methods and compositions that can sensitize tumors to current treatments are highly desirable. Ideally, these methods and compositions should decrease local recurrences in patients treated with radiotherapy and/or should increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents systemically. In addition, they should not have severe side effects.
What are needed, then, are new strategies and compositions for treating tumors and/or cancers via inhibition of HIF-1 activity and/or the upregulation of HIF-1 activity that results from radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. The presently disclosed subject matter addresses this and other needs in the art.